Nursery Admissions Delhi-Gear up for the Admissions

Neighbourhood may be only criterion for nursery admissions in Delhi

The distance between a child’s home and school could be the only criteria for admissions in the coming season, a move that will simplify the procedure but is being questioned by schools.

If the Kejriwal government’s proposal on “neighbourhood criterion” is implemented, some of Delhi’s prominent private schools built on government land will have to follow the norm.

“This time, we are planning to keep distance as the only criterion. This will give equal weightage to all applications as there will be no other criteria,” Atishi Marlena, adviser to the Delhi education minister, told HT.

Typically, Delhi schools follow a point system and “neighbourhood”is one of the parameters that decide the school a child would go to.

Schools would be free to determine the distance but in keeping with the right to education guidelines.

As many as 285 private schools built on DDA land such as GD Goenka Rohini and Vasant Kunj, all Delhi Public School except the one in RK Puram, all Bal Bharti schools and Vasant Valley School would have to follow the norm, Marlena said.

Till last year, “neighbourhood”, alumni – one or both the parents ex-students -- and siblings – an elder brother or sister studying in the same school -- were the three criteria for which points were allotted.

The Delhi government plans to do away with all norms but the one for distance in the guidelines expected to be released in two weeks, officials said. The admission process begins January.

With parents keen on children starting out in good schools, there is always a scramble for seats in the city’s top private institutions.

Last few years have been chaotic, with parents dragging schools and government to court over norms that were changed several times.

Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who will have the final word, has welcomed the move but has some reservations.

He pointed out in a note that only 285 of the 1,700 private schools were given land by government on condition of having a say in admissions, sources said.

“He has expressed concern that it might create a subset of schools which have admission polices different from other schools,” sources said.

Jung had asked the government to consults all stakeholders to come up with a transparent and uniform policy.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, was likely to meet parents, teachers and other stakeholders on December 5, sources said.

Schools can impose other criteria but only for seats left vacant after exhausting the neighborhood norm, Marlena said.

Schools are not happy.

“Schools will suffer as the quality of students may suffer if you have students from one area only. All neighborhoods don’t have enough number of schools and if distance is fixed, students in many areas will be left with no options,” said a principal on condition of anonymity.

source: www.hindustantimes.com/

Schools may get to decide the distance to which neighbourhood rule will apply

Private schools may get the right to decide the area to which the neighbourhood criterion will apply for nursery admissions for the academic session 2017-18. The government plans to set one kilometre as the minimum distance for the norm.

This year the government is planning to make ‘neighborhood’ or the distance between a child’s home and school as the only criteria for nursery admissions. The move will impact 285 schools built on land allotted by the Delhi Development Authority. The land allotment terms state that schools cannot deny admissions to residents of neighboring areas.

The government on Monday held a consultation with schools to discuss nursery admission guidelines, implementation of DDA allotment letters, and the definition of the terms — locality and neighborhood.

Officials said the government’s plan is in line with a Supreme Court direction that says schools have to strictly implement terms of land allotment. The current consultation comes in the wake of a petition filed by ‘Justice for All’ in high court which states that as per the land lease agreement between schools and DDA, schools cannot deny admissions to students from the neighbourhood.

Deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia told schools that they will be free to define neighbourhood but the minimum distance they have to cover is 1 kilometre.

“The minister told schools that they have to implement the terms of land allotment. But the terms don’t define the limit of neighbourhood. Schools will be free to decide the distance they want to cover under neighbourhood but the minimum distance will be 1 kilometre,” sources said.

Advocate Khagesh Jha, who has filed the petition in HC, said, “Schools will have autonomy to decide the distance but fixing it at 1 kilometre means that the applicant from within that distance will not be denied admission by the school.”

Schools have been asked to send their feedback in a few days over government’s move. “We will send our feedback in a day or two,” said a school representative, who attended the meeting.

Nursery admissions for the upcoming academic session are likely to begin from January 1.

source:www.hindustantimes.com

Non-refundable fee policy in Gurgaon Schools....

Parents are worried over absence of refund policy

Nursery admissions for the next academic year have already begun in many private schools in the city. But the absence of a refund policy and lack of intervention from education authorities are putting parents in a tight spot.

Most private schools set the percentage of non-refundable fees between 45% and 50%. Unlike Delhi, where the share of refundable fee is decided by the education authorities, in Gurgaon, each school decides its own without much transparency. As a result, parents say they are losing money in cancellations.

In Delhi, if a child is withdrawn within one month of deposit of fees, the school can deduct admission fees/registration fees —both very low in Delhi as compared to Gurgaon — and one month's tuition fees, and it has to refund the balance amount within 15 days.

"Private schools in Gurgaon have created a monopoly charging by whatever they wish. It is very important for the government to intervene or else the parents will keep suffering the same way," said Jatin Gudwani, a parent who works with Castrol India. He suggested that the city's education department could a take a leaf out of Delhi's policy in these cases.

The state government also seems to have turned a deaf ear in the matter, which has been going on for more than five years now, said parents.

The absence of a refund policy becomes a bigger problem for parents because there is no set timeline for opening of school admissions. In Gurgaon, the admission process runs for four months, starting mid-July, and some sought-after schools either come up with results or open admissions in October. Hence, parents are in catch 22 situations as there is no uniform fee refund policy.

"My son got through in DPS Sushant Lok, and the school authorities asked us to make a payment of Rs 1 lakh. They told us they would refund only Rs 40,000 in case of cancellation. Anyway, we did not pay the money, hoping he will make it to some other school. But that hasn't happened either and now I am out of options," saidNeeta Saini, a parent and a teacher working with a government school.


source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com